Gentelin’s sticking with what works

The chefs at Gentelin’s on Broadway, located in the 100 block of East Broadway, are eager and ready to serve up a meal you won’t soon forget. Head chef and owner Ryan Gentelin, seated in center, is surrounded by his staff, from left, Jeffrey Martin, Mitchell Klein, Brandon Beagle and Kyle Ballard.

That’s the motto Ryan Gentelin and his wife, Sarah, have followed for the past nine years with their downtown Alton restaurant. Since opening in 2006, Gentelin’s on Broadway has continued to provide the food, service and experience that earned it the “best fine dining” distinction from Telegraph readers last fall.

It’s a simple formula. Gentelin, an Alton High School graduate who completed St. Louis Community College at Forest Park’s Culinary Arts program in 2001, and his team of chefs — all of whom also have culinary degrees — use fresh ingredients to create great dishes. Current offerings include tempura-fried lobster and a bone-in fried pork chop, among others.

While continuing to stick with what works, Gentelin said coming up with new and different meals helps to keep his restaurant’s menu from growing stale.

“These are just things that nobody else around here is doing,” Gentelin said.

To be an Alton staple was a conscious choice he and his wife, who has run the front of the house since the restaurant’s opening, made nine years ago. Both Alton natives, the couple decided to keep their restaurant local when other opportunities presented themselves.

“Back when we were going to open nine years ago, Edwardsville would have been an ideal spot,” Gentelin said. “We stayed in Alton because our family and friends are here, and we saw a need here.”

The local theme also extends to Gentelin’s fellow chefs. Sous chef Mitchell Klein worked at the restaurant for the first six-plus years before leaving to run a restaurant in Carlinville, Gentelin said. He returned to the restaurant last fall. Pastry chef Kyle Ballard, grillmaster Brandon Beagle and Jeffrey Martin, who is in charge of appetizers, round out Gentelin’s kitchen crew.

Recently Gentelin tweaked the restaurant’s menu again to include some old favorites for somewhat of a reunion tour. If it ain’t broke, after all, why fix it?

“I highlighted some of the more popular things we’ve had over the years,” Gentelin said. “I brought back some of the appetizers that we haven’t had in a while — the bacon-wrapped BBQ-glazed shrimp was really popular, and we haven’t had that on the menu in a while. The customers were wanting it.”

Gentelin’s on Broadway is open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. and is closed Sunday and Monday. For more information, call 618-465-6080 or visit gentelinsonbroadway.com.